Chapter Thirty-Four: Familiar Pain
She only heard the sounds: the slashing claws, the gnashing teeth, the roars, the growls. She couldn't see anything but black.
She felt her Aura shatter and fall off her skin, vanishing like dander caught in the wind. She felt the cold of the ground she fell upon before she felt the pain of the Grimm's relentless assault, if only for the briefest moment.
She remembered feeling cold. She remembered never wanting to feel cold ever again.
She remembered running and hiding from the Grimm so she wouldn't have to hear their terrible roars, at least until she was big enough to hit them back.
All of it, buried under that oppressive darkness, seeming further and further away…
A jolt of energy moved into her shoulder. Her Aura sprang back to life, repelling their claws once again. She felt not the cold stone under her back, but the rapid movement of her body as she was dragged out from under the swarming pack, pulled by the same hand firmly affixed to her shoulder.
She saw again: a spaulder of white-painted metal, gold-colored bracers, a black undershirt… the darkened sky overhead, illuminated only by the buildings beneath its expanse and the faint glimmer of Atlas in the corner of her eye.
She had strength to move her head: to look back and see Jaune pulling her away from the Grimm, hiding her behind his shield and trying to rebuild her Aura with his Semblance. Having lost their target, the Sabyrs only pursued him instead, while Ren tried to fend them off with a hail of fire from Storm Flower.
Nora glanced further past him. The civilians had broken out of their orderly line and were dashing towards any shelter they could find. If they couldn't get into the subway or to the safehouses, they broke windows and piled into buildings, trampling over each other.
Ren broke off his gunfire and moved to Jaune's side. "We have to go. We can't hold this position any longer."
"Ren…" Nora weakly began, before he shook his head, mouthing 'not now.'
Ren fired at the Sabyrs, drawing their attention. Jaune used the cover to collapse his shield and use his now free arm to hoist Nora up onto his shoulder, still replenishing her Aura with one hand.
She saw faint blurs of others running around them. She kept her attention on the speck of green in the crowd following after Jaune and herself.
She heard the roars and growls at their backs. She heard others cry out as the Grimm found them first.
Nora tried to reach for her hammer but couldn't lift her arm. She watched it weakly collapse against Jaune's back.
She faintly heard his racing footsteps and his ragged breaths… closing her eyes and seeing naught but darkness again.
"Help?" Oscar repeated, glancing at Neo's Scroll once again, waiting for some… some sort of clarity. He'd either have to wait a long time for Neo to type out a response or try to infer from her body language again, something where previous results had been decidedly… mixed.
Neo typed on her Scroll: Cinder will come for the Maiden. She's waiting for Ironwood to send someone to her.
Cinder Fall… the woman who nearly killed Weiss at Haven. The woman who murdered Pyrrha Nikos, whose place Oscar now took in her former team.
The woman who killed him -who killed Ozpin- after absorbing the full power of the Fall Maiden. If she could successfully infiltrate the academy and find where Ironwood had sequestered the Winter Maiden…
"How do you know this?" Oscar asked her.
Neo gestured to the lamp, clipped on his belt, before typing another message. She sent me to get that while she goes after the power, then she makes for the vault.
Oscar was one of very few Ironwood had allowed to visit it. Even Ruby and her friends hadn't been invited down below the school…
The timing made sense. The kingdom was in chaos following a cyberattack, the Grimm was keeping the military occupied, General Ironwood was tied up with council business immediately after his authority had been revoked… it was the same misdirection used at Beacon, employed by the same mastermind of the last attack.
Aided by a lieutenant who'd also aided her in that very same infiltration…
Oscar tried not to be wary of Neo. She'd come to him and tipped him off to Cinder's plans, so perhaps she wasn't so inclined to play along… or perhaps she simply thought the rapport she'd gained with him might be enough to deceive Oscar into giving her the information Cinder expected to have but hadn't yet found for herself.
Do not listen to her, Oscar, Ozpin cautioned. She's been lying to you from the very beginning.
That was true. She may never have even revealed her identity to him had her visit not gone awry that night…
But then, he wasn't particularly inclined to listen to Ozpin at that moment either.
"I don't know where she is," Oscar stated, leaving just enough bait on the hook. If Neo had no use for him -and couldn't convince him to help her- what would her reaction be?
Neo typed on her Scroll again. Then will you take me to someone who does?
A bit harsh, but…
Wait, Neo was willing to be brought before the others?
"Someone like…?" Oscar let the question hang, watching her carefully, waiting for some sign of… he wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to notice duplicity in a girl who could easily craft illusions, but maybe there'd be some tell.
Given he hadn't even realized she was casting an illusion when the two were intimate together, however… perhaps Oscar shouldn't have been so confident in his ability to read her.
One of your friends, Neo typed.
His friends. Would that include-?
"...Ruby?" Oscar offered, searching her for a reaction.
He found one. Neo's gloved thumb hovered over the screen of her Scroll. Her neutral expression turned into a deep frown. If she was trying to deceive him, she hadn't bothered to hide her disdain.
Not her, Neo finally typed. Cinder is the one I want.
Wait, she was working with Cinder and plotting to kill her? Would such good fortune just… fall into his lap like that?
Don't be a fool, Oscar, Ozpin counseled. She knows she can exploit you. She's managed it before.
Oscar thought back on the vision Jinn showed them. He remembered seeing Neo fall to the ground in anguish, having to relive the loss of someone she'd clearly cared for very deeply…
Someone she tried to replace -at least in some small way- when she crawled into his bed and tried to remember how things used to be… how very familiar that sounded to Oscar.
"Cinder told you Ruby was the one to kill him, didn't she?" Oscar suggested. "She lied to you."
Neo's frown shifted to something more stilted: something more pained. Grief to match her frustration.
"If I help you, what will happen?" Oscar asked her. "What are you planning to do?"
Neo composed herself, taking a few long breaths before composing a simple response: kill her.
It wasn't exactly the sort of pact he wanted to enter into. It wasn't the sort of thing he wanted to encourage, even in dealing with unrepentant murderers like Cinder Fall.
He didn't know how many Neo had killed before. But she'd tried to kill Yang and had been willing to turn Atlesian weapons against civilians at Beacon. Her lack of hesitation in her reply suggested she was prepared to kill Cinder, at least.
Oscar, Ozpin began again, do you really believe you can entrust this to her?
He looked at the derby hat atop her head. When she tentatively took it from his hand, he thought that there might've been some way to reach her…
When they'd been interrupted in the storage closet by Nora, Oscar persuaded Neo to sheathe her blade and walk away. She could -at the very least- be reasoned with.
But how much of that was hollow justification? How much of that was just because he wanted to believe in her?
All because she'd warmed his bed…
Oscar shook his head. He wouldn't let Ozpin's unsubtle whispers cloud him any longer. Not when Ozpin had so pressed him on time being a factor.
Very well, Ozpin conceded. I know how to proceed.
Oscar was slow to trust anything Ozpin whispered in his ear. But he couldn't help but listen.
"As I said, I don't know where she is," Oscar said again, before drawing his Scroll. "But I know who might."
Penny's swords barely scratched the Megoliath's armored plating: it didn't even break its stride as it continued rampaging through the streets. When she fell back and collected kinetic energy by rotating her blades and discharged an energy burst, the massive Grimm contemptuously swung its trunk out, batting her aside and pressing on with its charge. Penny crashed into the side of a nearby shop, nearly breaking through the brick with the weight of her frame, leaving an indentation of her body when she fell away.
Penny quickly rose to her feet, glancing around. Clover was still waving civilians into the tunnels, Harriet darting around the battlefield to keep the smaller Grimm away from the line. They were still organized, but a few were starting to break ranks, pushing and shoving as an older, larger, more dangerous Grimm thrashed about the streets just a few meters away…
She had to keep its attention on her, rather than allow it to reach the civilians. If their defensive line broke down, the people would crowd each other and jam up the tunnel entrance, leaving them easy prey for the Grimm. This Megoliath alone could trample them all were they to bunch together so tightly.
Penny rotated her blades around her back, searching for some obvious weak point in the Grimm's carapace. She'd have to attack it soon, before it turned its red eyes on the civilians…
She was the protector of Mantle, after all… or at least, still wanted the people to believe that she was…
She just expected to have more of her friends at her side when the Grimm bore down on them. If Ruby had been able to stay…
Penny shook her head. She couldn't allow herself to doubt. Her friends were fighting just like she was, all of them overwhelmed, all of them outnumbered, facing down an insurmountable force… and none of them had broken yet.
And she was not broken.
Penny activated the thrusters in her boots, bringing herself to eye level with the beast, even as it continued its reckless charge. She placed herself right in its path.
Its skull and bones were too dense to cut through. But those blazing red eyes… they didn't appear to be armored. And the Megoliath was so large her swords would easily slide through the holes in its skull.
Penny drew a blade to either hand and flung herself towards the beast's face, even as it reared back its head to swing at her again…
Weiss continued to glance at her Scroll as her Aura continued to erode -faster than Ruby's was- as she moved along her glyphs to keep pace with her partner. The cold and the exertion both were wearing her down as she drew nearer, but at least the target was coming into view: she saw Amity Colosseum hovering over the old SDC mine, the single transport ship moving towards the arena's landing platform.
Weiss's Aura was continuing to flicker on her Scroll's display. She saw it visibly flicker on her right arm, the cool blue starting to wane.
She had to perform one final exertion before she could rest, however. She signaled to Ruby to hold, bringing herself to stop in the tundra and driving Myrtenaster into the ground to steady herself while she drew a larger glyph in the ground, summoning a defeated foe to serve as their mount in bringing them skyward to meet their adversary.
The translucent wings of the massive arthropod Grimm emerged first, followed by its spindly legs, then its fanged maw. The Queen Lancer she'd defeated in Mistral -not her favorite means of air travel, but given their limited resources…
Her Aura flickered again. Ruby glanced frantically at her. "Weiss…"
"Just a little more," Weiss assured her. "Get on."
Ruby did as her partner instructed and climbed onto the winged Grimm's back. Once the construct finished materializing from Weiss's summon, she was lifted from the grand, her blade still embedded in the white spectre's thorax. She directed it skyward, towards Amity… it was not so much further a trip.
The winds cut through her Aura on the way up. Enough to cause tears right into her sleeves, enough for the cold to really, physically hit her.
Her construct staggered in its flight. Weiss drove the blade deeper into its back, forcing herself to go just that little bit more…
The Queen nearly crashed into the side of the platform, already dissipating before impact. Ruby took over from her partner, taking hold of Weiss and dashing off the Grimm summon onto solid ground, then taking a few further steps to get them out of the wind and sleet, behind the walls of the arena.
"You okay?" Ruby asked her.
"Just… need a minute," Weiss explained, catching her breath, watching her Aura level on her Scroll. Deep into the red, but just hanging on… "You get in there and find who's behind this. I'm right behind you."
Ruby was in no hurry to leave her, but with Weiss's Aura still visible on the surface of her skin as it tried to reconstitute, she knew any enemies waiting for them in Amity would exploit the visible weakness if Weiss came along… and eventually she relented. "Stay safe."
Ruby dashed inside to begin her search. Weiss looked back out over the tundra, listening to the wind howl as it struck the tall, armored exterior of the colosseum. If she was wrong… if this wasn't someone's intent at sabotage, she and Ruby were stuck out in the tundra and it'd take them even longer to get back and reinforce the others.
She glanced at her Aura level again. It had barely moved… she needed her Aura to rebuild faster or she'd never-
A weak signal. A call trying to get through. A call from-
"Oscar?" Weiss mused, seeing his face pop up. His Scroll call managed to reach this far?
He was at the academy in Atlas, above the fighting, with a better signal. Or maybe Ironwood had boosted the communications range… either way…
Weiss answered quickly, hoping the call would hold. "Hello?"
"Weiss, I need your help," she heard Oscar faintly explain. "I need to know… about the Winter Maiden."
Elm struck with her hammer, clearing the landing zone of Grimm. The Mantas finally finished their descent, opening side panel doors, soldiers waving civilians inside. Blake and Yang moved to lower the ship's ramps to help them on board, before rejoining Elm in the fray. Centinals were rising up through cracks in the pavement, tunneling under the city streets and finally clawing their way through the rock. Yang moved in to punch them back into the ground, while Blake chopped off the beast's heads before the rest of them could make their way up.
Yang glanced around as the civilians loaded up the small ships. Their evacuation site seemed to be faring better than the others: several ships had still yet to land, just hovering over the city, illuminated by the flashing red warning lights on the ground. The Grimm were still in control of several other sectors…
Elm followed Yang's gaze, before turning her head back to the Mantas pulling up their ramps and closing their doors. With the civilians aboard and the ships ready to disembark, Elm stepped between Yang and the Grimm, instructing her: "Go- I've got this."
Yang nodded, gesturing to Blake. The two disengaged, leaving Elm to smash the Centinals instead. As they dashed through the streets, Yang checked her Scroll. She could see the signal strength of most of her friends and the Ace Ops on the ground with them… but Ruby and Weiss's signals were very weak. She frantically pressed the screen into Blake's face.
"What's going on with them?" Blake asked.
"Maybe they had to board a ship and pull out," Yang suggested. "I'm… I'm really hoping that's why."
Blake produced her own Scroll, going through her list of contacts. "If Weiss and Ruby aren't in their sector, whom do we go to?"
Yang considered it. Penny's signal was still strong, but it seemed like Clover and Harriet were still with her. Nora, Ren, and Jaune were together and their teamwork was unparalleled, even compared to the elite military task force…
But the Grimm were still coming. The streets continued to thunder with the rampaging charge of Megoliaths. And if the air fleet wasn't going to put their batteries to use, they'd need more boots on the ground to even the odds…
"We have to get help," Yang decided. "Any help."
Blake thought on it. "Robyn. She went to the ground too, right? What about her -or the other Happy Huntresses?"
"Do you remember where they were holding that rally?" Yang inquired. "Think she went back to her campaign HQ?"
"We have to start somewhere," Blake nodded. "There's a lot of ground to cover…"
Yang cocked the left gauntlet of Ember Celica. "Good thing the general gave us a bunch of new toys." She readied one of the grenades added to her arsenal. "You ever rocket jump before, Blake?"
"...before I met you, I don't think I'd have ever consider those two words going together," Blake admitted.
Yang grinned. "First time for everything."
"The Winter Maiden?" Weiss repeated. "Why would you think that I'd-"
"She confided in you, didn't she?" Oscar interjected. "She told you what she knew. She entrusted it to you."
Weiss took a moment to process Oscar's request. He knew what Winter told her?
No, it was just a logical supposition. Sisters would share their secrets, and Oscar -or Ozpin- would realize that they had. But did he not realize that sisters would then keep those same secrets from anyone else?
She hadn't even told her teammates. Ironwood shared it with Winter and Winter shared it with her. That was as far as the chain was meant to link.
"Why do you want to know?" Weiss asked, still feeling him out. Not that she wouldn't trust Oscar's intentions, but…
Weiss liked him. But breaching her sister's confidence would be a huge ask from anyone. Certainly more than she expected to reveal from someone who didn't even know how Weiss felt about him.
But then, he'd already demonstrated he knew more than he let on…
"Cinder is here," Oscar explained to her. "She's going to go after the Maiden while all this is going on; while General Ironwood's distracted. Weiss, if you know where she is, we have to get to her first."
That certainly made Weiss more amenable. Saving Fria's life from Cinder's machinations would be worth Winter's scorn… if only just.
Though she did wonder… "How do you know Cinder's here?"
A moment's pause. Uncharacteristic hesitation from Oscar. He finally mumbled out something very clear - and very concerning. "Neopolitan."
"Neo told you?" Weiss asked, unable to mask the venom in her voice. "Neo contacted you again?"
"...in her way," Oscar admitted. "She… let me in on a few things."
Considering the source, Weiss immediately changed her mind from resolving to help him to denying Neo any information. Why he'd be willing to work with that psychopath after she'd already robbed them of Jinn's last question…
"Is she with you now?" Weiss inquired.
She had multiple reasons for wanting to know the answer to that one.
"Yes," Oscar confirmed. "She's trying to make an alliance with us: she wants Cinder… dealt with."
How Neo conveyed that Weiss could only speculate. But given Neo also snuck into Oscar's room in the dead of night, there was clearly more there than she knew about… she'd have so many questions for Oscar at a better time than this.
But first… "There's no reason for you to trust her, Oscar."
She just wanted to make it clear to him who had his best interests at heart. Feelings… notwithstanding.
"There's one reason to," Oscar countered. "In the vision Jinn showed us, she saw what happened between Ruby and Torchwick. She knows that Ruby wasn't the reason he died." Another pause. "She wants the woman who put him in place to be killed in the first place."
A criminal so bothered by the loss of her former partner? Weiss wouldn't have thought Neopolitan capable of such a thing…
But not so long ago she thought the same callousness and disregard were part and parcel of the White Fang, until a former member ended up on her team…
Oscar advised her to be open with her loved ones, now including him. Before he'd mentioned the prospect of an alliance with a woman who'd tried to murder Yang, she would've told him everything.
That was one of the reasons she was so fond of him: his honesty. He told her something that could've easily jeopardized his request, something that she could use as grounds of refusal…
And a reason to agree: to save him from her.
"Okay, Oscar," Weiss finally relented. "Just… whatever it is she's planning, make sure she tells you -or whatever she does- everything."
Hopefully the vicious career criminal would be better at telling everyone the truth than they had been…
"Weiss?" Oscar inquired.
A moment's pause as she drew breath. The first time she'd ever revealed a secret to a boy… how she wished she could meet his eye and he could see her hesitation. How she wished she could see his eyes at all.
"Her name is Fria."
Watts continued to type on the command console, waving his rings over the keyboard to accelerate the process. The tower was already aligned and capable of generating a signal to the kingdom, though it seemed Ironwood's goal had actually been to raise Amity to a greater elevation and generate a signal strong enough to reconnect the entire CCT. Watts mused on this… he could provide James the helping hand and get his precious communications tower high enough to send a message… any message Salem wished, to the entire world.
Watts continued to edit the various sources of footage from Ironwood. He could make Ironwood announce no help was coming for Mantle and Atlas, further driving the citizens to despair and calling the Grimm right to them… with some clever editing he could then broadcast to the rest of the world a declaration of war, just as he'd persuaded Lionheart to spread the same misinformation in Mistral…
It didn't matter what the message was. James would be held responsible for the slaughter of his citizens and the collapse of his kingdom. Watts' only regret was that he may not have been able to personally taunt James, depending on their timetable…
Of course, if he managed to get Amity high enough to send the signal he could easily resume directing Atlas' communications with his council access, and send his old friend a parting gift…
Watts refocused his attention on the accelerants on the colosseum. The available gravity Dust wouldn't be enough to elevate it for more than a few seconds, but that would be just enough time to send out multiple messages to Atlas and the other kingdoms…
It was a petty thing to indulge. But if he succeeded, Salem wouldn't object to him taking the extra time. She'd only be more pleased to see the fires raise even higher…
"So… you're the guy Weiss has been talking about: the one who rigged the election and hacked all the Atlas systems…"
Watts paused, slowly turning around. A girl in a red hood… with silver eyes.
"And you're the little girl who took Cinder's eye," Watts observed. "I really must thank you: for a while there she was so wounded to be rendered mute. Peace and quiet is so rare in my line of work…"
He continued his weaving, finishing Ironwood's message to the populace. He'd get it ready to broadcast as soon as the tower completed its ascent.
"Why are you doing this?" the silver-eyed girl demanded. "Don't you realize what Salem's doing?!"
She knew about Salem…? Ozpin must've been confident in this one…
Just as he'd been with the last one, the one Hazel clashed with… Watts would be wise not to underestimate her.
He waved his fingers over the console, inputting one last instruction to begin powering the thrusters. Once Amity reached altitude it'd very quickly fall away, so he had to maximize the time spent processing the Dust… and need to distract this child lest she interfere.
"I realize that James Ironwood has finally been brought low and punished for his hubris," Watts replied, finally turning to face the girl in red. He pulled his Scroll from his waistcoat, searching quickly for photo recognition…
Ruby Rose, a recently appointed Huntress granted the promotion on direct order from General Ironwood. So she served two masters…?
"Rather fitting, isn't it?" Watts mused. "The tower he hoped would be his redemption will be the final nail in his coffin."
Ruby tightened her grip on her scythe, narrowing her gaze. "Not today."
Watts hoped his silver tongue would keep her at bay a while longer. But it seemed he'd need to employ a different weapon.
He reached into his coat, producing his pinfire revolver, spinning the barrel and counting each round. Twenty shots, sixteen Dust, four iron…
He had to keep her attention from the terminal. She didn't seem technically proficient, but that scythe of hers' looked like it could break a few things. He'd have to -temporarily- keep her focus on him and ensure his messages were broadcast.
"Oh no, my dear," Watts assured her. "This will be the day I've waited for…"
Oscar raced through the halls, Neo -once again disguised as Nora- at his back. He had no idea how far ahead Winter was, or if she was even en route, but he did feel confident Ironwood would dispatch her sooner or later. Perhaps they'd have another reinforcement on hand when Cinder finally arrived.
He tried to keep his attention on heading for the medical wing, though mid-charge he did indulge a niggling curiosity…
"How did you know that Winter told Weiss about this?" Oscar asked under his breath.
Daughters, Oscar - sisters. Ozpin explained. Four of them. If ever something was going on in the house that… that their mother and I didn't know, invariably one of them would tell the other.
Right. He and Salem had for… for at least some number of years been happy, been able to know what their lives might have been…
He felt a familiar pain. He wasn't sure if it was his sympathy or Ozpin's memory ringing through him then.
Focus, Ozpin advised. You have to thwart her, and all your attention must be on Cinder. Do not let her catch you unaware.
The last time he had, she'd killed him.
… killed Ozpin, he meant.
Oscar kept his head down. He couldn't let that bother him. At least not until after the fight was finished… however long it'd be.
He had to make it through this. He had to believe the following day there'd be a chance to do something other than commit himself to the mission… that was all every other day would be devoted to, moving forward.
One more push. One more…
Nora's eyes flitted open, but she could barely make anything out. It was so dark…
"She's stirring," she heard Jaune quietly murmur. When her gaze came into focus, she saw Ren closer at hand, both his arms extended, hanging in the air, his purple Aura visible along his wrists down to his fingertips.
Nora shifted her gaze about, though it was hard to move. The picture became a bit clearer… Jaune, anchoring his hand to Ren's shoulder and boosting his Aura, Ren smothering the room in calming, concealing gray…
She heard others breathing, mumbling behind her, faceless in the darkness. Other civilians crowded in this tight space with them…
"We're in the shelter," Jaune explained. "Ren's keeping us hidden from the Grimm."
Nora turned her gaze down to her own body, coated in the gray of Ren's Semblance. Jaune too had his color washed out… visible only because of how close he was. At least they were all alive…
But she couldn't tell how many civilians made it in with them. She didn't know how many they'd saved before the Grimm broke through their line…
Nora shifted her weight, wincing when she tried to sit up. She wasn't sure where the Grimm got her, but she definitely felt some pain in her abdomen, down her side…
Ren's eyes were closed; he was deep in concentration. Concealing just a few people quickly burnt through his already limited Aura supply, so trying to mask so many must've been exhausting even with Jaune there to boost him.
She tried to reach to him, to offer some measure of support… she could barely so much as brush his wrist with her fingers.
If they'd been routed, the others may have been too. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang…
Oscar was the only one she knew would be safe. And that… that wasn't the comfort she expected it to be. Not given that he wasn't the only person she knew would be safe in Atlas…
"Jaune…" Nora mumbled, "Have to get… my Scroll…"
"Nora?" Jaune wondered.
"Oscar," Nora just managed to say. "He's… he's not alone up there…"
Jaune tried to dissuade her, brushing her away with his free hand. "We'll call them when we can, Nora. We need to-"
"We need to warn him," Nora interjected, finding her voice. "We need to tell him we can't get back to him yet."
Jaune raised an eyebrow. "...why?"
"Because… because of who's up there with him…"
Robyn reared back her crossbow, trying desperately to load a new bolt. Before she could, however, she had to try and lower her arm, only to watch the bracer snap off her wrist and her bow to slide right off the back of her hand, clattering to the pavement. Robyn had no chance to recover it, as Tyrian swung with his wrist blade, slicing right through her Aura, eating it with a sting of purple, eroding her shield. Robyn drew back as best she could, but another slash cut across her stomach, right through the opening he'd made, drawing blood.
Robyn fell to her knees in the street, holding her midsection with one hand and trying desperately to rebuild her Aura, her would-be assassin finally halting his attack, looking down at her with a manic grin. "I was beginning to think this would take all night… you're persistent, you know that…?"
"Good," Robyn defiantly replied.
Tyrian reached down, taking hold of either side of her head, hoisting her up. When Robyn reached up to try and bat away his hand, Tyrian slashed across her stomach again, causing her to cry out in pain.
"Pity there's no one around to hear you," Tyrian observed. "Just think of the scandal: a politician begging for her life in the streets…"
"I'm not going to beg," Robyn growled at him. "You're a monster. You murdered my friends."
"I did my service to my queen," Tyrian coolly rebuffed. "You stole from your own kingdom to help the people more important to you. Wouldn't you say you committed your misdeed for a greater good?"
"That's not-" Robyn glared at him, only to be cut off when Tyrian drew his mechanical stinger, leveling it at her throat.
"We all serve our purpose, Ms. Hill," Tyrian noted. "And once we do…"
Robyn continued to glare at him. Tyrian gently prodded her with his stinger, leaning in closer. "Care to beg now…?"
Robyn opened her mouth to speak… and spat on his cheek.
Tyrian's eyes turned from bright yellow to purple, poison surging through his body to his tail. "That can be your epitaph…"
The sound of a discharging shot drew their attention. Tyrian reached up with his free hand to catch the projectile, expecting another bolt -possibly from one of Robyn's Happy Huntresses… only for the back of his wrist to be struck by a concussion burst, exploding right on his skin. Tyrian cried out, dropping Robyn to the ground and hobbling backward, frantically shaking his wrist.
He turned his gaze towards the approximate trajectory of the projectile, only to be abruptly struck in the face by a followup attack, a black boot crashing into his chin and sending him tumbling away.
Blake landed in the pavement, drawing Gambol Shroud and leveling its submachine gun at him. Yang moved into position beside her, exchanging a spent round from Ember Celica.
Robyn coughed, blearily rubbing her eyes. "Fisticuffs…"
Yang nodded, raising both her fists as she watched the mad scorpion Faunus turn his furious gaze their way. "Mind if we cut in?"
Winter was en route to her. Normally the heart of Atlas Academy would be a secure location -it certainly was for Oscar Pine and the relic- but General Ironwood had ordered Fria be moved -precarious as her condition was- to the transfer chamber. The council may have stripped him of many of his emergency powers, but so long as he still had authority over military operations…
She was in no hurry to strap Fria in. They both knew that once she was placed in the chamber she'd be unlikely to leave it.
Her mind wasn't always there, but Fria had been unwavering in her commitment -her promise- to the General. She would be willing, if not eager to do her duty.
But as she passed through the halls towards Fria's room, she spotted two familiar pops of color in the stark white: a boy clad in green and a girl in pink.
"Oscar," Winter observed, "Nora… why are you two here?"
"Cinder Fall," Oscar frantically informed her, "She knows where the Winter Maiden is. She's on her way here."
The woman who orchestrated the fall of Beacon… how had she figured it out? For that matter, how had Oscar? He was right outside her room.
"Thank you for informing me," Winter nodded. "I'll secure her and move her from this location."
"We can help," Oscar quickly offered, gesturing between himself and Nora. "Just tell us what you need."
Winter wasn't certain that would be wise. They weren't supposed to know about Fria at all…
Then again, they were offering unconditional aid. Oscar had no particular assignment, but Nora was supposed to be out suppressing the Grimm threat in Mantle… why was she even here?
"No, that won't be necessary," Winter assured them. "If you want to help, keep watch for our intruder. I can see to-"
Winter was interrupted by a sudden ringing. Oscar frantically reached into his coat for his Scroll. "Sorry, let me just…" He saw the name of the contact and immediately shifted gears, answering it. "Jaune?"
"Oscar, we need to talk," Winter faintly heard Jaune Arc's voice.
"What is it?" Oscar inquired. "Are you guys alright?"
"Nora told me to ask you about Neo: is she still with you?" Jaune asked.
Nora told him to ask…?
"She… uh…" Oscar's hazel eyes shifted towards Nora, who seemed quite determined to avoid Winter's own gaze. She was being uncharacteristically quiet…
"Finish your thought," Winter suggested to Oscar.
Oscar's eyes flitted back and forth from his Scroll to Nora at his side. He started mumbling, searching for something to say… and Nora finally met Winter's eye, slowly reaching one hand down to her side.
Winter was faster on the draw, unsheathing her saber and striking first. 'Nora' shattered like shards of glass, an even shorter girl emerging from the physical illusion, with a long mane of multicolored hair, pink and brown eyes, and a parasol leveled at Winter in the girl's right hand.
"Neopolitan," Winter observed, tightening her grip on the hilt of her blade. "You're wanted for the murder of my kingdom's soldiers and the theft -and destruction- of Atlesian military property."
The short girl had a suitably short reply: unsheathing a blade of her own from within her parasol.
It seemed Cinder Fall wasn't their only intruder…
"In the name of the kingdom of Atlas, I am placing you under arrest," Winter declared. "I invite you to resist."
Watts discharged another shot, watching the silver-eyed girl dodge with ease, outpacing even the arc of his bullet. He tried to fall back and retreat into the colosseum, but Ruby easily closed the distance, trying to cut him with her scythe, leaving Watts to clumsily stumble out of her path, his Aura narrowly avoiding a shave. By the time he'd composed himself and fired another shot, she was running out of his line of fire again.
"Speedy little jackrabbit," Watts mused, looking down at the chamber of his revolver, quietly muttering: "Sixteen."
He continued his retreat, and she immediately moved to follow. This time, Watts didn't have the fortune to avoid her hit, the flat of her scythe catching his shoulder and disrupting his Aura. And for such a little girl, she moved him quite a bit, sending him staggering along the arena floor.
Still, he was getting closer, away from the center. He checked his rings for control over the arena's biomes… the floor beginning to rock as he summoned them into place.
Watts drew up a hard light shield from his ring finger, placing it at his side to mitigate some damage from Ruby Rose's next strike. His Aura still received a ding, however, starting to flicker all along his arm…
She pursued him again. Watts fired another shot, aiming erratically, trying to break her stride. He just needed to offset her momentum by a fraction of a second…
Ruby Rose weaved past his shot and moved to attack again. Watts tucked down and rolled along the ground, letting her slash over his head. Watts allowed the arena panels to move him, pushing him further away… forcing the girl to move around if she wanted to give chase.
She didn't. She transformed her scythe into some sort of rifle form, taking aim at him. Watts fired again, but at range his revolver would be less than totally accurate… the silver-eyed girl barely had to move before returning fire, with much higher impact rounds.
"Fourteen," Watts grumbled, quickly climbing up and trying to run. If she wanted to stay still, that'd open up another possible means of dealing with her…
Watts checked the chamber. Fire, lightning, iron… ice.
He fired twice more, trying to keep pressure on her. But the further apart the two were, the more he had to account for dropoff. When Ruby Rose saw his attack coming, she had only to take a step back to avoid it finding home.
She was staying in place. She was giving him his opening.
A third shot. A bullet that sailed right past the girl's head.
Ruby Rose leveled her sniper rifle, finding Watts in her sights…
The scientist waved his left hand, sending the command with his ring. He abruptly left his feet, levitating in the air as the arena's gravity was abruptly shut off… and Ruby Rose soon followed, suddenly losing her grounding… and her momentum.
Her speed meant nothing without some way to anchor herself…
Watts hated to count before he'd fired his shot, but as he drifted closer to her, he still needed to indulge his habit. "Ten."
The Ice Dust round discharged, striking Ruby Rose in her chest and pushing her back, encasing her in a freezing coating. Watts reactivated the gravity, landing easily -if crouched- on the arena floor, while Ruby Rose slammed into the wall, pinned under a new, thick blanket of ice.
Watts grinned to himself, stepping over to the girl as she tried frantically to get loose. Only half his ammunition… he did so savor efficient use of resources.
Watts leveled his revolver at the girl's head. Salem had asked Tyrian to bring this one in alive, but then… that was hardly his responsibility, was it?
She'd die anyway when the tower fell from the sky. He'd simply speed the process along… and not risk her finding a way out and disrupting the signal at that. Watts slowly tugged on the trigger…
A round of Fire Dust lanced towards her. Watts saw her silver eyes illuminated by the orange glow…
...only for the round to be smothered by an entirely different Dust round, a discharge of ice to counteract his flame. Watts quickly followed the trajectory of the attack, finding a familiar, white-haired, blue-eyed girl approaching him, spinning a chamber of Dust rounds built into her rapier.
"Weiss Schnee…" Watts observed. "Did your father send you to bill me for assisting him with his… political aspirations?"
The Schnee girl leveled her blade with her left hand. "I'm here for my friend. You will never harm her… or my family name ever again."
"Don't be so sure," Watts sneered, turning his revolver on the girl. "After all…"
He glanced back at the terminal. Deactivating the artificial gravity had given some additional thrust, accelerating his time table…
The gravity Dust engines activated. The arena shook as it began its ascent, causing the Schnee girl to staggered on the uneven floor.
Watts grinned and waved his left hand, summoning platforms up from the ground and levitating the floor beneath his feet, giving him a lofty perch to look down on the Schnee coming to challenge him.
"The sky is falling…"